About Hillsides LLC

Tennessee roots, a decade of California craft and an engineer’s habits, now in Knoxville, TN.

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Born in Tennessee. Trained in the desert. Back home in Knoxville.

I'm Tennessee born and raised. I spent my first 30 years here, learning to fix what was broken and build what was needed, the way East Tennessee does it.

Then I spent ten years in California's Coachella Valley working as a handyman in Palm Springs, Indian Wells and the towns around them. I set custom cabinetry in a high-end estate, hand-shaped wave headers to match a home's one-of-a-kind artwork, opened up a desert-modern house with new structural headers and walls of glass, turned a cluttered garage into a full gym, repaired a luxury spa's hydrotherapy bed, and set up home networks. Desert homes taught me California standards: precision with stucco, heat and glass, and clients who expect it done right.

Now I'm back home in Knoxville, bringing both together: Tennessee roots and a decade of California craft. If you've moved here from California, you'll recognize the standard. If you're from here, you'll know you're working with one of your own.

The Sunsphere in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, framed by autumn trees — Photo: “Sunsphere in Autumn” by David Ratledge, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; resized with a green tint.

Clear plans, clean job sites, and showing up when I said I would.

Hillsides LLC, Knoxville, TN

Engineering background

Electrical engineering background

I worked as an electrical engineer, servicing STEM and SEM electron microscopes with my father’s business, MicroFix Service. It taught me to be patient and methodical, find the real fault, and put things back exactly right. That’s the standard I bring to smart homes, networks and bench electronics.

See it in the Hardware Lab

Hands at work inside an electron microscope chamber — Inside the chamber

Owner beside an electron microscope column in a lab — On the job

About Hillsides LLC

Owner of Hillsides in his garage workshop — Owner in the garage workshop

Owner at the saw bench in the shop — At the saw bench

Owner on a job with a DeWalt drill and shop vac — With a DeWalt drill

Owner by his truck with boards laid out to finish — By the truck and boards

My old green business card from the California years, with the old phone number and website blurred — My old business card from the California years.

Collaboration is part of the craft

One thing hasn't changed since my handyman days in the desert: when a job reaches past what I've fully mastered, I don't guess. I quickly reach out to people I trust: humble, trustworthy pros who know their trade and are willing to teach. Those collaborators are a big part of every result on this site, and they're why I can say yes to more of what you need, done right.

The crews I've worked alongside

Cabinet boxes set in place during a kitchen install — Cabinet installers

Cabinet installer fitting the kitchen island — Cabinet install at the island

Concrete crew of three pouring a footing — Concrete crew

Painter at work on a ceiling — Painter on scaffold

About me

Just call me Trey

Three sides make a triangle.

My full name is William Hill Sides III, but I’ve been Trey since the day I was born and have never gone by anything else. I’m even thinking about making Trey Sides my legal name.

I love that Trey means three. Three sides make a triangle, and that shape fits how I think about the big questions. To me, the Father is whatever existed before anything we can conceptualize, even with our most rigorous science. The Son is that, however the universe began, it produced a being that became aware of itself. The Holy Spirit is whatever actually animates us beyond cold matter.

Still, I don’t think who I am is bound to the sound of a name. It’s just the label for this life, in this moment.

What I hold onto wholeheartedly is non-violence. People can believe different things and still be generous and kind to each other. Whatever you believe, or don’t, you’ll get the same respect and the same care on your job.